20 NCLEX Tips and Strategies Every Nursing Students Should Know

The NCLEX is the final frontier of most nursing students to reach their dream of becoming a full-fledge registered nurse. But the NCLEX is definitely not easy and entails a lot of preparation to successfully hurdle this big challenge.

Luckily, there are many resources to help you pass the exam like answering practice questions, enrolling yourself in a review center, and also these 20 brilliant tips and strategies every NCLEX taker should know:

1. Never choose an answer that leaves the patient. Always provide safety.

2. Don’t “do nothing.” Because you always have to do something.

3. Don’t read into the question. Never assume anything that has not been specifically mentioned and don’t add extra meaning to the question.

4. Don’t pass the buck. Never choose an answer that passes work off to anyone else.

5. If you see an option you have never heard of, do not choose it. It’s like a signal from your brain that that is not the correct answer.

6. When choosing which patient to see first, choose the patient who is the most unstable. Patient’s who are most likely to perish, most critical, or will suffer further injury without immediate action should be prioritized first.

7. Always assume the NCLEX hospital has unlimited staff, equipment, and resources. Know that health care facilities in the NCLEX are always ideal.

8. Restraints are always the last option and are almost always the wrong answer.

19. Rephrase the question. Putting the question in your own words can pluck the necessary info to reveal the core of the stem.

20. Make educated guesses. If you can’t make the best answer for a particular question, give it a guess. The board exams is not a “right minus wrong” type. It is important for you to answer every question even if you have to guess.

These tips and strategies are just one way of preparing for the NCLEX. To come fully equipped for the exam, try out our practice NCLEX questions.